In recent years, poker has become very popular. One of the most common variations of poker is Five Card Draw. In general, in Five Card Draw poker the player gets five cards dealt face up from a 52 card deck of playing cards. The player can discard none, one, a plurality or all of the five cards. Each discarded card is replaced with another card from the deck. After the replacement, the cards are evaluated for winning combinations. For a five card poker game, there are nine general categories of hands, ranked from highest to lowest, as shown in Table 1 below.
TABLE 1Ranking of Five Card Poker Hands by CategoryRankNameExample1Straight FlushK  Q  J  10  9 2Four of a KindJ  J♥ J♦ J  3 3Full HouseA♥ A♦ A  6♦ 6 4FlushA  J  8  6  2 5Straight8♦ 7  6  5  4 6Three of a KindQ  Q♥ Q♦ 6♦ 2 7Two Pair8♦ 8♥ 5♥ 5  2 8One PairK♦ K  8  7  2♥9No PairA♥ 10  7♦ 5  3 
Within each category, hands are ranked according to the rank of individual cards, with an Ace being the highest card and a two being the lowest card. There is no difference in rank between the four suits of cards. All hands can be ranked in a linear ranking from highest to lowest. Because suits are all of the same value, however, there are multiple hands that have identical rankings. For example, there are four equivalent hands for each type of straight flush, four of a kind, or flush, there are over a hundred equivalent hands for each two pair variation, and there are over 1,000 equivalent hands for each type of no-pair hand.
Numerous variations of poker exist, including Five Card Draw as mentioned above, Three Card Poker, Five Card Stud, Seven Card Stud, Hold'em (also called Texas Hold'em), and Omaha (also called Omaha Hold'em). The variations in these games generally differ in the total number of cards dealt, in the manner in which cards are dealt, and in the manner and frequency in which bets are placed. Various criteria may also be used to determine the winning hand, including highest ranking hand, lowest ranking hand (Low-Ball), and where the high and low hands each win half of the pot (High-Low). In general, for poker variations that include more than five cards, the hands are determined by selecting the five cards (of the greater number of cards) that result in the highest possible five card hand ranking, as shown in Table 1 above. For example, in Texas Hold'em the best five card hand is selected from a total of seven cards.
In certain known multiplayer variations of poker, the players play against each other rather than against a dealer or house. In certain of these variations, a round of play begins when each player has placed an initial bet, called the ante, into the pot. The term pot refers to the total accumulation of antes and wagers made during a particular game. After the players have anted, each player eligible for play is dealt an initial set of cards.
The number of cards dealt depends on the particular variation of poker being played. For example, in Five Card Draw, each player is initially dealt five cards. In typical Three Card Poker games where the player plays against a dealer hand, the player is dealt a total of three cards and the dealer hand includes a total of three cards as well. In certain known Three Card Poker games, the initially dealt player hand and dealer hand are final and there is no option to replace or draw any new cards. In Texas Hold'em, Five Card Stud and Seven Card Stud, each player is initially dealt two cards. These cards are typically dealt face-down; however, depending on the game, some of the cards may be dealt face-up to the player. For example, in Five Card Stud, each player is initially dealt one card face-up and one card face-down. In Texas Hold'em, each player is initially dealt two cards face-down which are commonly referred to as the hole cards.
For certain poker variations where additional cards are dealt or where cards may be replaced, after the initial deal, a first round of wagering begins, where the players have the opportunity to place wagers. If a player places a wager, that wager must be matched (i.e., called) or raised by each player that wants to remain in the game. A raise includes matching the previous wager and increasing the total bet. A player who does not match a bet drops out of the game or folds. A round of betting ends when either every player but one has folded, or when the highest bet or raise has been called by each remaining player such that each remaining player has wagered the same amount into the pot during the round.
Depending on the variation of poker being player, each game may have only an initial wager or several rounds of wagering, where each round of wagering is generally preceded by dealing one or more cards. If two or more players remain after a particular round of wagering, either more cards are dealt, or there is a showdown, depending on the game variation being played. A showdown occurs when two or more players remain in a game after the last round of wagering has been completed for a particular round. A player wins a game of poker either by having the highest ranking hand when a showdown occurs, or by being the last remaining player in the game after all other players have dropped out or folded. At a showdown, each player displays the player's hand to the other players. If two or more players have identically ranked hands that are the highest ranking hands, the pot is split evenly between them.
Of the poker variations mentioned above, Texas Hold'em is one of the more popular versions. Texas Hold'em is generally a multi-player card game played at a live card table or via a computer-based virtual card table. In Texas Hold'em, only two players at a table make the initial bets, commonly referred to as the blinds. These blinds include a large blind and a small blind. The large blind is typically twice the value of the small blind. In a blind based game such as Texas Hold'em, all players are initially eligible to receive a hand, even if they did not place the large blind or the small blind. After the players have anted, each player eligible for play is dealt an initial set of cards. Each of the players must match the blinds, raise the blinds or fold. Texas Hold'em includes a designated number of community cards (i.e., usually five) that can be used by all of the players in combination with their hole cards. The winning hand is the resulting five card hand (of the combined seven cards) having the highest poker rank. This method of determining a winning five card hand is similar to determining a winning hand in Seven Card Stud. However, Seven Card Stud does not utilize community cards as in Texas Hold'em.
Texas Hold'em generally requires two or more players. Certain computer-based versions of the game implement virtual players that use computer heuristics to attempt to allow the virtual players to behave like actual human players.
Certain gaming establishments have an interest in being able to leverage the interest in Texas Hold'em by offering a variation of the game that can be played against the house or casino rather than against other players. This may appeal to players who are waiting to get a seat at a standard table, to those who do not believe they have the skill or bankroll to participate in a standard game, or to those players simply looking for an interesting new casino game.
Existing player versus casino games based on Texas Hold'em generally fall into a few different categories. One type of game has the player attempting to achieve a certain hand outcome relative to a pay table, with assorted betting options and/or requirements along the way. Another type of Texas Hold'em game is based on the outcome of the player's hand relative to that of the dealer's hand, with assorted betting options and/or requirements along the way. Some games offer both type of mechanisms, with the main game based on latter category and an optional side bet based on the former category.
A need exists for new and exciting variations of Texas Hold'em or other seven card poker variations, where the player is able to play in a virtual gaming environment against the house or casino.